Share of small and medium-sized enterprises rose to 98.3%

The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2007 increased by 3,400 or 10%, to 37,500. These include 28,800 micro-enterprises, 7,000 small enterprises and 1,700 medium-sized enterprises. The SMEs make up 98.3% of the total number of companies registered in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting sources in the Ministry of Economy and Trade. According to Valentina Veverita, the head of the Economy Ministry’s SME Development Division, the improvement of the business climate and of the framework that regulates the entrepreneurial activity has led to higher profitability on this market segment. The turnover of the SMEs last year was 46.3 billion lei or 45.3% of the total revenues per economy. The trading profit rose by 26.5% on 2006. The SMEs working in the construction sector reported a 40% rise in the trading profit, those working in retail trade - an increase of 22% and those from processing industry - of 20%. The profit made by the SMEs rose about twofold to 3.6 billion lei, as against 1.42 billion lei in 2006. Veverita said that the implementation of the strategy for supporting the development of SMEs will be completed in 2008. Among the main results achieved during about three years are the amendment of the legislative framework regulating the activity of small and medium-sized enterprises by adopting the Law on SME Support, which introduced new criteria for classifying the SMEs; the facilitation of access to finances; the enhancement of SMEs’ competitiveness. A relevant event for the activity of this business segment is the creation of the Organization for Developing the SME Sector in May 2007. The organization’s objective is to implement the Government’s strategies and programs aimed at supporting this sector. Sergiu Corobceanu, of the Business Associations Alliance of Moldova, said that the number of small and medium-sized enterprises, including in rural areas, could increase as the persons that came home from abroad after accumulating money and gaining work experience want to make investments. According to him, the state should provide clear guarantees to the potential small investors, including in the new strategy for supporting the SME sector that is being drafted. There should be opened more consultancy centers that would offer advice as regards running a business at the initial stage. The functionality of these centers should be a task of the local authorities that want to increase the taxable basis in order to collect larger incomes for the budgets of the mayors’ offices.